From Wendy Boswell,
Your Guide to Web Search.
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Maps! We all need them from time to time, and there are certainly quite a few good ones on the Web today - National Geographic's Map Machine, Google Maps, the extremely easy to use MapQuest, and more. However, none of these have really explored the depth of content available combined with a truly user-friendly interface: that is, until Ask.com decided to roll out AskCity.

What is AskCity?

AskCity is local search; but it's different from other local search map offerings in that it offers a ton of widgets, layers, and just plain useability. Think of it as the Happy Meal with not just one good toy, but two (and maybe a couple of extra apple pies inside as well).

How does AskCity work?

The best way to see if a service will work for you - and get past the hype - is to try it out yourself. Here's what I found on a brief trial run of AskCity.

AskCity is US-centric

That's to be expected; still, I'm pretty sure that it's actually possible to launch a product that serves the other 90% of the world that's on the Internet. This is probably the only beef I have with AskCity; well, so far. Let's keep going.

AskCity layout

Simple and clean: my favorite kind of look. There's not a lot of "junk" muddling up your workspace. When you first get into AskCity, you're going to see a map of the United States front and center, navigational helps on the left, and on the bottom, a repository for snapshots of the current map you're on (a nice little feature).

One thing that is a bit confusing: the title tag is labeled Ask Business Search instead of AskCity. For those of us without A)previous visits to AskCity and or B)significant amounts of coffee this could be confusing.

AskCity Maps

I have to admit: I'm not a big map girl. If I need directions I'll ask for landmarks instead of street signs (turn left at the Wal-Mart, right at the fireworks stand, etc.). However, I just might have to change my non-mappy stance with the AskCity maps - yes, they're just that fun. Here's a quick intro:

• Choices:You've got a few things you can look for in the AskCity map o'fun: Businesses, Events, Directions, or Movies.
• AskCity Business: I did a quick search for vets near me. My results came back in two columns: one with search listings (phone numbers, addresses, and consumer reviews-nice), and a map pinpointing all the search results' exact locations. You get some fun tools at the bottom of the map: freehand draw, shapes, and the aforementioned Snapshot widget; this basically allows you to save a screenshot of the map you're on so you have it for later. Nice.
• AskCity Events: Search events going on near you by artist, venue, or event - or just go nuts and plop in your zip code, see what's going on. Same approximate search results interface as the Business listings apply here.
• AskCity Movies: Ask has long been a nice destination to search for movies (see my article titled Movie Search), and now they've tweaked this feature into AskCity. You can search by movie, genre, actor, or location and receive movie times, location, and reviews. Let me tell you: this is a LOT easier then calling into your local theater's voice-operated wasteland.
• AskCity Maps and Directions: Oh, yeah! Maps and directions. Not only can you get the generic driving directions both with printable maps and written directions, you can grab a nice walking map: what a great way to explore parts of your town that you might not have known about (and get some good exercise at the same time).

AskCity Pros

Easy to use. AskCity has that nice mix of user-friendly and useful, without dipping too far into mapgeekland.

Excellent use of previously standalone features. Movie search and business search are old hands in the Ask.com ranch; it's nice to see them fully integrated here.

Useful tools. Again - I'm not a map girl, so many of the map tools get filed into the "have no use for that" bin. However, I found that the AskCity tools; most notably, the Snapshots widget, actually got used.

AskCity Cons

No stop button. I programmed a mega walking marathon into AskCity, and waiting for results to come back. And waited. And waited. Finally, I had to exit out of there, losing my potential results. There should be a stop, or pause, or "get back to me when you're done" button here.

Should be easier to add reviews. In your search results, if you click on the review stars, you're taken to the generic CitySearch info page. It would be nice to be able to integrate this more completely into AskCity so people wouldn't have to go through a whole dog and pony show in order to add their thoughts.

Snapshots - why no email? You can email a link to the map, which is useful, but it would be even more useful to have an email widget for each individual snapshot.

AskCity - pretty useful

Overall, I was impressed with AskCity. It's useful, it's pretty, it's got a lot of user-friendly features without being too geeky. I invite you to give AskCity a go the next time you need maps, directions, business listings, movies, events, etc.

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